Hospira appoints SVP for operations

Hospira has announced the appointment of John Elliot as its new senior vice-president (SVP) for operations.

Scottish national Mr Elliot will serve as a member of Hospira's senior leadership team and takes responsibility for global operations from April 16th 2012, bringing extensive pharmaceutical industry experience to the firm.

He is the former president and chairman of Cherokee Pharmaceuticals and also spent 26 years with GlaxoSmithKline and its predecessor company SmithKline Beecham, delivering success in a variety of roles.

This comes at a time when Hospira is aiming to advance its plant remediation strategies and expand its manufacturing capacity, with the creation of a new Indian facility planned.

F Michael Ball, the company's chief executive officer, said: "We're confident John will have an immediate positive impact, as we continue our efforts to deliver high-quality, cost-effective products to customers and ultimately establish our manufacturing operations as a strategic, competitive advantage."

Last year, the company generated an annual sales total of $4.06 billion (2.55 billion pounds), up by 3.6 percent compared to 2010.